Which would be better...

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Hi! My family of five is headed to TDR and HKG for a few days this summer. We plan to do one day at Hong Kong Disneyland right now, but I have two scenarios that I'm playing with. For those who have been, which, logistically, would be better?

Scenario 1
Sunday: Arrive (looking at early flight, get in around 11 a.m.), head to Intercontinental Hong Kong (yay for reward nights!). Do something in town that night.
Monday: Move to Holiday Inn Express SoHo, spend afternoon/evening on the island.
Tuesday: All day at Disneyland, but come back to SoHo for the night.
Wednesday: Maybe do Ngong Ping in the morning since it's by the airport and then fly back to Narita on a late afternoon flight.
*This scenario comes with all free hotels and breakfast, but seems harder only because DLR is so far from SoHo. Doable, but much more time on the train.

Scenario 2
Sunday: Arrive early, head to Intercontinental Hong Kong (yay for reward nights!). Do something in town that night.
Monday: Stay at Intercontinental and head to the island for the day.
Tuesday: Head to Disneyland Hotel, check in, drop bags, do the park for the afternoon/evening.
Wednesday: Park in the morning, late afternoon flight back to Narita.
*This scenario comes with two free nights hotel. Unless Disney runs a special or will allow five in a room, it could cost us about $500 more because we will need two rooms.

Also, obviously I'm very early in my planning stages, so things are really rough right now! Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[indoshakespeare]

SoHo to Hong Kong is not that far with MTR. Should take around 40 minutes according to the website

http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/jp/index.php?sid=26&eid=55

Disneyland Hotel does allow 5 in a room if 1 person is under 3 years old. I'm pretty sure you can book with 4 people and sleep 5 if you want to risk it...they don't check who sleep in the room. Just so you know, Explorer's Lodge hotel rooms have 2 Queen beds as opposed to Disneyland Hotel's 2 Double beds so you can save more money and have bigger beds. If you can book 1 room for your party, scenario 2 is probably better.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

@indoshakespeare I have decided on staying at the Disneyland Hotel and do two shorter days in the park. Do you think we could get to the park around 2 p.m. to maybe ride a couple of rides, eat dinner, see the fireworks, get acclimated, etc.? And then spend the next morning in the park focusing on rides? We will likely have to leave around 1 p.m. to head to the airport. Or would it be better to spend one full day? TIA!

 

[Zemba]

@indoshakespeare I have decided on staying at the Disneyland Hotel and do two shorter days in the park. Do you think we could get to the park around 2 p.m. to maybe ride a couple of rides, eat dinner, see the fireworks, get acclimated, etc.? And then spend the next morning in the park focusing on rides? We will likely have to leave around 1 p.m. to head to the airport. Or would it be better to spend one full day? TIA!

Just a few suggestions:
The park normally doesn’t open until 10:30, so you would probably only have 2.5 hours on your second day. That being said, if you go on a weekday that isn’t a holiday, you should be able to get a lot done in those 2 hours.

Arriving at 2 the first day will allow you enough time to do many of the rides, as well as see the afternoon and evening parades. Sadly, they no longer do fireworks at HKDL, so that won’t be an option for you.

Just to give you an idea of how long it takes to do things: I went to HK Disney yesterday and arrived around 4. I saw the Lion King show, rode Mystic Manor (with a 30 minute wait, which I normally wouldn’t do, but the people I was with really wanted to ride) Big Grizzly Mountain mine cars, and small world, and I ate dinner. I left around 7. If you arrived at 2 and stayed until closing (typically between 7:30 and 10, depending on the day of the week and special events) you should be able to do a few more rides than I did and see a parade.

Hope that helps!

Also, I think it’s a good idea to stay closer to Disney. The MTR in Hong Kong is convenient, but Soho is pretty far from Disney, and could make a very long day with train rides there and back. If you decide to do Ngong Ping, book tickets online in advanced. The queue to buy tickets that day of can be hours long.

 

[indoshakespeare]

@indoshakespeare I have decided on staying at the Disneyland Hotel and do two shorter days in the park. Do you think we could get to the park around 2 p.m. to maybe ride a couple of rides, eat dinner, see the fireworks, get acclimated, etc.? And then spend the next morning in the park focusing on rides? We will likely have to leave around 1 p.m. to head to the airport. Or would it be better to spend one full day? TIA!

That should be enough time to do everything. you only have 2.5 to 3 hours on the second day but that's enough to ride almost everything. A 2 day ticket only cost a fraction more than a 1 day ticket

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

@Zemba and @indoshakespeare Thank you both. Very helpful info! I would rather do Ngong Ping on one of our regular Hong Kong days, but since it's out by the resort, it seemed to make sense. I'm still debating that. We could also do it before flying out on the second day and devote one full day to the park. Or skip it all together. Lots to figure out! But I have 100% decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. I emailed and they said they would allow five in one room, so that's done.

 

[MouseOfCards]

@Zemba and @indoshakespeare Thank you both. Very helpful info! I would rather do Ngong Ping on one of our regular Hong Kong days, but since it's out by the resort, it seemed to make sense. I'm still debating that. We could also do it before flying out on the second day and devote one full day to the park. Or skip it all together. Lots to figure out! But I have 100% decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel. I emailed and they said they would allow five in one room, so that's done.

When we called DL Hotel to ask, they absolutely would not allow more than 4 in a room. Is one of your kids under 3?

 

[indoshakespeare]

When we called DL Hotel to ask, they absolutely would not allow more than 4 in a room. Is one of your kids under 3?

Yes, we were 3 adults, a 6 year old and a 2 year old

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

When we called DL Hotel to ask, they absolutely would not allow more than 4 in a room. Is one of your kids under 3?

They thought our three kids were between the ages of 3 and 11. When I clarified, they said we needed two rooms. But they were going to let us have five if our kids were "kids".

 

[hkkatie]

That should be enough time to do everything. you only have 2.5 to 3 hours on the second day but that's enough to ride almost everything. A 2 day ticket only cost a fraction more than a 1 day ticket

I disagree. In the summer, it will be crowded, you won't be able to do even half the rides in 3 hours. (Although, if you get there early, before opening, you can definitely get a lot done before noon. BUT Toy Story Land, and I believe Mystic Manor (and Maybe Grizzly Gulch) open a bit later, so you would have to wait to do those. After 12pm, the lines all get much longer.

There have been many times where I wished desperately that I was going to stay in one of the hotels after a long day in the park rather than schlepping all the way back home to the island, but personally, I think it's better to spend the full day rather than two short days. The train ride really isn't that long from Soho. But I see you already decided to do the two days, so in that case, I think you can check in to the hotel early and they can hold your bags for you until your room is ready. (please call them to find out for sure.) I know they hold luggage. Try to get to the park as early as you can. It will already be very crowded by 2pm.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Thanks @hkkatie! We are booked at the Hollywood Hotel. Since I had to get two rooms, I decided to go as cheap as possible, but still be at the resort. Hopefully we don't regret that choice! I am honestly still debating on one or two days. As of today, I think I'm set on one full day (our arrival day) and then going up to the Big Buddha before our flight on the second day. Our flight leaves at 3 p.m., so I assume we will need to head to the airport around 12:30 p.m. I am hoping we will have enough time that morning to go to Ngong Ping, leaving our luggage at the cable car station. With the park not opening until 10 (which I didn't realize when I was initially planning this) two hours isn't enough to do much at all.

 

[JessicaRabbit13]

Thanks @hkkatie! We are booked at the Hollywood Hotel. Since I had to get two rooms, I decided to go as cheap as possible, but still be at the resort. Hopefully we don't regret that choice! I am honestly still debating on one or two days. As of today, I think I'm set on one full day (our arrival day) and then going up to the Big Buddha before our flight on the second day. Our flight leaves at 3 p.m., so I assume we will need to head to the airport around 12:30 p.m. I am hoping we will have enough time that morning to go to Ngong Ping, leaving our luggage at the cable car station. With the park not opening until 10 (which I didn't realize when I was initially planning this) two hours isn't enough to do much at all.

Make sure you book your tickets for the Big Buddha from the official site and try to get the earliest time slot (9am) as the queues are insane later in the day. We had booked tickets for 9.15 and walked straight on the cable cars because we had our tickets purchased and printed. When we came back down around 12 the crowds were so long.